WASHINGTON, DC – Nov. 3, 2008 – Voters with disabilities are expected to vote in record numbers on Election Day, according to the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the largest cross-disability membership organization in the U.S.
About 20 million voters with disabilities are expected to cast their ballots in the general election, about a 10 percent increase from recent elections, showing America voters with disabilities are a powerful voting bloc that is gaining momentum, said Jim Dickson, Vice President for Government Affairs at AAPD.
“A 20 million strong voting bloc can easily decide a presidential election, and in this great country, elected officials respond to those who vote,” Dickson said. “We look forward to working with the newly elected president, Congress and state and local officials to improve employment and living conditions for the nation's largest minority.”
The estimated number of voters with disabilities expected on Election Day comes from polling data collected and analyzed by Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse, professors at Rutgers University who have spent 15 years studying voting trends in the disability community. Data was also collected from phone banks run by state disability vote coalitions in late October, which said a higher percentage than in past election years of people with disabilities reached by phone said they would be able to vote Nov. 4 and planned to cast their ballots.
According to Dickson, the expected increase in numbers of voters with disabilities is due to a combination of the $850 million in federal funds allotted from Congress to improve voting accessibility as well as the ongoing efforts of AAPD’s Disability Vote Project.
AAPD’s Disability Vote Project works in a nonpartisan manner to eliminate the barriers to voting and, in close collaboration with coalition partners in states around the country, to increase political participation of individuals with disabilities.
AAPD’s Disability Vote Project has coalitions in 13 states across the country and voting outreach in almost every state. For more information about the Disability Vote Project, visit AAPD’s Web site at http://www.aapd.com/.
For more information about the increase in voters with disabilities, contact Jim Dickson at 202-262-8240 or Douglas Kruse at 908-616-7841.
